Immunohistochemical Studies of the GABA System in the Pancreas

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Abstract
γ-Amino butyric acid (GABA) is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain. In the present study the indirect immunofluorescence technique was employed to localize the GABA-synthesizing enzyme glutamate decarboxylase, and the GABA-metabolizing enzyme GABA-transaminase within the rat pancreas. Both enzymes were found to occur only in the β-cells of the islets of Langerhans. The other endocrine cell types, the exocrine tissue and the nervous elements in the pancreas did not contain either enzyme. Animals treated with the β-cell toxins streptozotocin or alloxan showed a loss of immunoreactive cells in the islets. The results provide morphological evidence of the coexistence of GABA and insulin in the β-cells of the endocrine pancreas.